Texas executes man for student's slaying

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HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A one-time drifter was executed for the rape and murder of a woman who was attacked on a jogging trail eight years ago.

David Martinez, 29, was put to death Thursday for the slaying of Kiersa Paul, an art student from Minnesota who had gone to meet him at an Austin park. She apparently had met Martinez through mutual friends.

"Only the sky and green grass goes on forever, and today is a good day to die," Martinez said in a brief statement.

As the lethal injection began taking effect, Martinez sputtered and gasped several times before losing consciousness. He was pronounced dead eight minutes after the drugs began flowing into his arms.

Paul's parents, holding hands with another of their daughters, watched through a window a few feet away from Martinez. He made brief eye contact but said nothing to them.

As other witnesses, including his mother, entered a chamber viewing area, Martinez nodded and smiled.

On the night she was killed, the 24-year-old Paul told her sister she was heading to a popular Austin park to meet someone she knew only as "Wolf," which was Martinez's nickname.

The next morning, her body was found by a jogger. She had been raped and strangled. Her throat had been cut at least eight times, and she had an "X" carved into her chest.

Authorities arrested Martinez days later.